ROLE OF PRACTICUM IN TEACHER EDUCATION IN GHANA
J. Anamuah-Mensah
Teacher education plays a crucial role in empowering a group of people to assist the
greater majority of individuals to adapt to the rapidly changing social, economic and
cultural environment to ensure the development of human capital required for the
economic and social growth of societies. It is said that “if they (teachers) acquire the
professional competence and attitudes that enable them to effectively perform their
multiple tasks in the classroom, in the school and in the community, teachers become the
single most important contributing factor in ensuring quality educational provision”
(Dave & Rajput, 2000). A critical aspect of this professional competence is the
practicum. It is the heart of teacher education and an inseparable aspect of any
professional training.
In this presentation, attempt is made to examine the objective of teacher education, some
of the contextual challenges, models of practicum experiences and the role of practicum
in teacher education.
Objective of teacher education in Ghana
The underlying principle of teacher education in Ghana is:
to provide teachers with better knowledge and skills, together with
better incentives to use their knowledge and skills for the benefit of
children, through the creation of an accessible, integrated teacher
education and training system which provides a structure for
continuous professional development throughout their teaching careers. (MOE,
1993)
The Presidential Committee on the Review of Education Reform in Ghana stated the
objective of teacher education in Ghana as the training and development of the right type
of teacher who is competent, committed and dedicated. Such a teacher should be capable
of:


Applying, extending and synthesising various forms of knowledge;
Developing attitudes, values and dispositions that create a conducive
environment for quality teaching and learning in schools;


Facilitating learning and motivating individual learners to fully realise their
potential;
Adequately preparing the learner to participate fully in the national development
effort (Republic of Ghana, 2002).
The above statements require the development of skills in the student teacher, skills that
encompass classroom management, collegial relations and teacher-parent-community
interactions.
Contextual challenges
1. There is disconnection between theory as taught in teacher education institutions
and practice on the field; that is, the needs of the schools including their teachers
are not matched to the curriculum of teacher training institutions.
2. Teacher education does not seem to influence the ‘native theories’ of pre-service
teachers; the native theories they enter training colleges with remain untouched
(Bullough, 1997,p. 105);
3. Inadequate mastery of the content and activities for specific educational level.
4. lack of skills in test construction and in interactions with the community.
A holistic teacher education programme, borrowing from Hargreaves and Fullan’s (1992)
three approaches to teacher development, may be perceived to involve the acquisition of
knowledge and skills, development of self-understanding (of personal beliefs and
knowledge about teaching), and as ecological change i.e. the development of
collaborative school culture.
Structure of Teacher Education
Teacher education or development as is used by many teacher educators (Hargreaves &
Fullan, 1992) is a complex, multi-faceted process, made up of initial teacher training, inservice training (or continuing education) and lifelong education. In some places,
teachers go through an additional process of induction and licensing. These processes
cannot be carried out in isolation from one another. A strong synergistic relationship
among the different elements especially between the practical experiences and the theory
is required for quality teacher education.
Currently, the major institutions that collaborate to provide teacher education in Ghana
are: Ghana Education Service (GES), University of Education, Winneba (UEW), and
University of Cape Coast (UCC). The Ghana Education Service provides initial teacher
education through 38 Teacher Training Colleges located in various parts of the country.
Tables 1 and 2 in the appendix show the different types and aspects of teacher education
in Ghana as well as the emphasis given to the practicum experience.
Models of teacher education practicum
The practical training that students undergo and the characteristics they develop in their
teacher education programmes are determined to a large extent by the type of “model and
method of teacher education” (Ben-Peretz, 2000). Ben-Peretz (1996) identifies two
models - the master teacher model and the Joint problem-solving model. A third model
used in Ghana is the college or university supervision model which gives the university
or college supervisor the sole responsibility for shaping the thoughts and practices of the
student teacher. Although this could be considered as a master teacher model, an attempt
has been made to differentiate it from that at the school level. In this model schools are
used as authentic sites for student teachers to practice what they have been taught in the
college or university without any assistance from the teachers in the school. Indeed the
teachers in the schools perceive the period of student teachers’ practice teaching as a time
to have a break. In the master teacher or traditional apprenticeship model, significant
individuals such as method lecturers, school-based mentors serve as personal models of
professional practice through their knowledge, actions and attitudes. The teacher mentors
and university or college supervisors are seen as experts whose actions and advice should
be followed (in most cases without question) by the student teacher. The student teacher
is thus thought as one with no ideas and experiences to which could be tapped. For the
joint problem-solving model, student teachers, teacher educators and mentors participate
jointly in solving real-life school and classroom problems, the solutions to which are not
known to any of them. The three agencies for teacher development in the country employ
aspects of the three models. Some use the university supervision model (e.g., UCC),
while UEW uses a cross between the master and the joint problem-solving models.
Teacher training colleges are transiting from college supervision to school mentor-based
master teacher model.
The introduction of the 4-year IN-IN- IN-OUT programme at UEW was an innovation
introduced to meet the need for quality education in the schools. With this, the students
spend 3 years doing academic work in the university and use the last year for internship
in schools across the country. This new system extends the 4-week teaching practice to
40 weeks. It involves the following innovative strategies:

Introduction of mentoring system and the formation of Professional
Development Schools (PDS) for professional teacher education through
university-schools partnerships.

Introduction of Portfolio as an appraisal system as well as the basis for reflection
during the practicum experience.

Engagement of student teacher in developing his/her philosophy of teaching; this
is intended to challenge pre-service teachers to engage in the exploration of their
beliefs and expectations or what may be termed their ‘native theories’ (AnamuahMensah, 1997).

Introduction of action research as a tool for engaging in reflection on their
‘native theories’ as well as the problems they encounter in their teaching. It allows
pre-service teachers to bring their private and public theories into the public
domain. Action research allows the teachers to systematically codify their
practical experience and make it part of the shared professional knowledge of
teachers just as is done by many recognised professions such as engineering and
medicine (Ben-Peretz, 1984).

Involvement in school community activities such as Parent-Teacher association
activities.
The above model of partnership and mentoring attempts to follow the work of
Hargreaves and Fullan (1992). Hargreaves and Fullan’s (1992) have suggested three
approaches to teacher development, namely, the acquisition of knowledge and skills,
development of self-understanding (of personal beliefs and knowledge about teaching),
and ecological change i.e. the development of collaborative school culture. These have
been found to be critical to the development of competent teachers.
Role of practicum
As a major component of the training of teachers, practicum experience for initial teacher
education should have in-built flexibility to enable teachers who go through it be able to
meet future demands. The role of practicum in any teacher education programme will
depend on the structure of the practicum. While some have six-week experience others
have 16-32 week experience that embraces different activities and different objectives.
This suggests multiple roles for the practicum experience. These roles include:
o Strengthening the development of specific teaching competencies,
o Providing opportunities for self reflection,
o Providing opportunities for sharing experiences with a mentor, supervisor and
peers,
o ‘Promoting problem solving capacity and team skill in student teachers and an
appreciation of the life of the whole school as distinct from teaching in individual
classroom’,
o encourage formation of learning communities and promotion of team
work,
o developing collaborative capacities in student teachers as a basis for
successful participation in teaching teams and partnership arrangements at
school,
o providing opportunity for student teachers to establish themselves as generative
and innovative teaching professionals through authentic participation in school
and community activities,
o meeting real pupils/learners and real situations enables student teachers to develop
a repertoire of skills in dealing with different learning situations,
o Developing competencies as teacher-researcher through action research projects.
Conclusion
There is the need to develop alternative innovative practicum experiences in our teacher
training programmes if we are to produce teachers who can face the challenges in the
field. These experiences should promote team work, problem solving and a better
appreciation of the link between school and community.
References
Anamuah-Mensah, J. (1997). Native science beliefs among some Ghanaian students.
International Journal of Science Education, 20 (1), 115-124.
Ben-Peretz, M. (1984). Curriculum theory and practice in teacher education programs. In
Katz, L. G. & Raths, J. D. (Eds), Advances in Teacher Education, Vol. 1 (pp. 9-27).
Norwood, NJ: ABLEX Publishing.
Ben-Peretz, M. (1996). The search for teacher educators? What are the qualifications? In
Ephraty, N. & Lidor, R., eds. Teacher education; stability, evolution and revolution.
Proceedings of the Second International Conference, Zinman College of Physical
Education, Israel, p.1377-84.
Ben-Peretz, M. (2000). When teaching changes, can teacher education be far behind.
Prospects, 30(2), 215-224.
Bullough, R. V. (1997). Becoming a teacher: self and the social location of teacher
education. In Biddle, B. J., Good, T. L. & Goodson, I. F. (Eds.), International Handbook
of Teachers and Teaching, Vol. I (pp 76-134). London: Kluwer Academic.
Hargreaves, A. & Fullan, M. G.(Eds)(1992). Understanding teacher development. New
York: Teachers College Press.
Republic of Ghana (2002). Meeting the challenges of education in the twenty-first
century: A report of the President’s committee on review of education reforms in Ghana.
Accra: Adwinsa Publications
Table 1: An Ideal Typical Typology of Initial Teacher
Education Programmes
(Adapted from Lewin,K.M,1999)
APPENDIX
Table 1: An Ideal typical typology of initial teacher education programmes
Duration
Entry
Curriculum
Teaching
Practice
Teaching
Styles
Certification
Costs per
student
University
based
BEd
4 years fulltime
residential
senior
secondary
school leavers
Written exams,
school practice
reports, projects
Relatively
high
3-years
distance
learning
with face
to
face;
non
residential
1-year
sandwich
after first
degree
Certificate A
Block
practice
4-6 weeks or
1-year
internship
Teaching in
schools
in
normal
employment
Lectures, use
of specialist
facilities
University
based
Diploma
Subject
upgrading,
subject
methods,
professional
Subject
studies
upgrading,
instruction
modules,
face-to-face
Written exams,
school practice
reports, projects
medium
Written
school
reports,
or
studies
Written
school
reports,
or
studies
exams,
practice
projects
special
Relatively
high but for
shorter
duration
exams,
practice
projects
special
Relatively
high but for
shorter
duration
exams,
practice
projects
special
Relatively
high
Description
Type 1a:
Type 1b
University Post
Graduate
Diploma
in
Education
methods,
professional
studies
University
degree
Subject
methods,
professional
studies
Block
practice
6 weeks
Lectures, use
of specialist
facilities
in
1 year full
time
residential
or I year
sandwich
HND, City &
Guilds
Subject
methods,
professional
studies
Block
practice
6 weeks
Lectures, use
of specialist
facilities
Teacher
training
College based
Certificate A
/Diploma
3 years fulltime
residential
senior
secondary
school leavers
Subject
upgrading,
subject methods,
professional
studies
1 year
internship
Lectures, use
of specialist
facilities, self
study distance
modules
Written
school
reports,
or
studies
In-Service Up1-5 years
Experience as
grading
for
part-time
temporary or
initial
residential
untrained
non-1999
qualification from and/or
teachers
Adapted
Lewin,
residential
Subject
upgrading,
subject methods,
professional
studies
Teaching in
schools
in
normal
employment
Residential
lectures/
workshops of
varying
duration, selfstudy,
distance
learning
Written exams,
school
or
inspectors
reports
Certificate
Education
Type 2
Type 3 ?
High or low
depending
on duration
and
intensity of
contact
with tutors
Table 2: Comparison of the Nature of Teacher Education in Approved Institutions
AREAS
Teacher Training
Colleges
University of Cape
Coast
University of
Education, Winneba
Emphasis
Concern for quality of
education of education
at the basic level
Produce teachers and heads
for secondary and teacher
training colleges
Concern for upgrading
teachers in order to
improve basic,
secondary and technical
education
Implementers
TED/GES
Faculty of Education
All Faculties of UEW
Type of Training
Duration of
Programme
Structure/Location
Initial
Initial/Upgrading
Mainly Upgra ding
3 years
2 years/4 years
2 years/4 years
Concurrent;
(i) 2yr college plus
1yr. school-based
practice coupled with
DE*
Concurrent/Consecutive;
(i) 4yr university with 6
weeks of school-based
practice.
(ii) 2 yr sandwich diploma
(iii) 2 yr DE
(iv) 1 yr PGDE
(v) 1-2 yr Med/MPhil
Concurrent/Consecutive;
(i) 3yr university, 1 yr
internship in schools
(ii) 2 yr DE
(iii) 2 yr post Dip. DE
(iv) 1 yr sandwich/full
time CE**
(v) 1 yr PGDE
(vi) 1-2 yr Med/MPhil
Model of practical
training
Levels
Entry Requirement
College Supervision
Master teacher/University
supervision
Primary/JSS/SSS/TTC
(i). 12yr of schooling with
SSS grades,
(ii) Post Sec Certificate ‘A’
(iii) BA; BSc
(iv) Science remedial
Qualification
Certificate A
Bed, Diploma in Education
Quality Assurance
UCC
UCC/NAB
Master teacher/joint
problem solving
Primary/JSS/SSS/TTC
(i) Post Sec Cert. A;
(ii) HND
(iii) BA, BSc;
(iv Dip. In Education
(v) 12 yr of schooling
with SSS grades
(vi) 10 weeks pre-entry
programme.
Bed, Diploma in
Education , Post Dip.
DE
UEW/NAB
Primary/JSS
12 yr of schooling
with SSS grades
DE: Distance Education ;
NAB: National Accreditation Board
CE: Certificate in Education